Watching Games With Will Venable In Them

As I sit on my sofa watching this Padres-Buccos game on my computer, it occurred to me, for no particular reason, that I hope Will Venable gets the bulk of at bats from the LF position the rest of the season.

Ryan Ludwick is now the everyday RF, and I'm fine with that, especially because he hit his first Drino HR this evening.

But Venable has the speed and power that I'd like to see in the field the majority of games down the stretch. Not only does he have 10 bombs and 19 bags in only 255 ABs on the season, but from August 1 to September 25 last year, a nice winning stretch for the '09 Padres, he raised his average from .243 to .273. I'd love for him to tap into that hot streak again these next two months.

True, he has 88 Ks on the season and is only hitting at a .238 clip, but I think there may be some lightning in that bat that is somehow tapped into the weather patterns of the dog days of August and early September.

Wishful thinking? Maybe.

But I hope Buddy puts him in the lineup to find out.